Earthquakes Mudslides Avalanches
by Quijotesca
Summary: A oneshot fic about how Terra got tangled up with Slade after running from Titans Tower


_Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans and all that jazz._

**Earthquakes. Mudslides. Avalanches.  
A Teen Titans Fanfic  
By Laura McDaniel**

It seemed I was always running from something. Usually, it was mayhem that I had caused. This time, it was because I had been exposed by someone I trusted.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to hide the fact that I couldn't control my powers forever. Maybe I was crazy for thinking I could keep it a secret, but I didn't seem to have much of a choice. None of the other Titans seemed to have fatal problems like mine and I desperately wanted to be just like them. If they found out I had such a terrible flaw, I doubt they would've let me go on missions with them, and I really wanted to do something good for once. I really wanted to make a difference instead of constantly being reminded that I wasn't good enough.

So, things didn't work out. No big surprise. But when I noticed that I had almost run all the way back to my cave, I realized that I couldn't be safe there. The Titans would surely find my cave eventually and ask me all kinds of questions. I didn't want that.

I stopped running just long enough to catch my breath and make sure I wasn't being followed. As soon as I stopped, I felt my hair rising on end. No. Not again. Why did this always happen? I felt the ground beneath me shaking and I shut my eyes as if that would change everything. When I opened them again, I was looking at walls of earth that were several feet high.

I was in a massive crater that was created by my own powers and it would be difficult to climb out. I probably could've manipulated the ground enough to rise out of there, but I just didn't feel like it. It's strange, but at that moment, I could hear Slade's voice in my mind.

"I know why you're always running away," he'd said. "Earthquakes. Avalanches. Mudslides. Everywhere you go, you try to do good. And everywhere you fail. So everyone turns against you."

That was the story of my life. Even if I climbed out of that hole, I'd just fall into another one later. And I'd still be running.

"If only I had control," I said to no one in particular.

"I can give it to you," a voice from above me said.

I recognized the voice instantly. "Slade?"

"Indeed it is, Terra. I can help you out of there. That is, if you want to be helped."

"I don't know…my friends said that you…"

"Your friends? If they were your friends, they wouldn't have betrayed your secret and they certainly would have found you before I did," he said simply.

"What do you want from me?"

"Why do I have to want anything from you, Terra? The truth is I think you're dangerous. You probably think the world will be safe from you if you stay down there, but how do you know that? Do you really want to ravage this area with earthquakes while you wait to perish? Or worse, what if your powers do something you've never expected and you create a natural disaster unlike any other?"

"No!"

"Then what do you really want, Terra? Tell me now because I really don't want to waste my time waiting around for you."

I took a deep breath and slowly said, "I…want out. I want out of this hole and I don't want to fall into any others like it."

"Then, it is settled," Slade said. At that moment, a rope ladder unrolled from above me and stopped just slightly above me against the wall of the crater. "Climb out, Terra, and face your future."

He sounded a bit creepy just then, but I really didn't question what I was doing because I had nobody else to turn to and I was tired of being alone. What he said was true, anyway: I _was_ dangerous and I was tired of hurting people. I slowly climbed up the ladder and then stood in front of the mysterious man who had saved me.

"What do I do now, Slade?" I asked him. As I looked up at his mask, I began to feel a bit uneasy, but I still didn't want to turn back.

"I will train you, of course. I don't know much about geomancy, but I do know a few things about control," he said. "Oh, and I would like you to call me 'Master,'" he added in a sinister tone.

"Of course, Master," I said meekly. I felt a bit strange saying that, but I figured I'd get used to it. It had to be easier than always running away.

Though I couldn't see his face, I had little doubt in my mind that he was smiling. I didn't know exactly what was going to happen to me.

I just knew I wouldn't be running anymore…


End file.
